Clarity
by Sev Crucio
Summary: Focuses on Ryousuke's personal life. On how he deals with Project D, school and the people in his life. Yaoi. Ryou x OC.
1. The Softest Touch

Ryousuke gathered up his books as the bell rang, signaling the end to another day of lessons. After arranging to discuss their latest group project later on in the week, he made his way out of the lecture theatre with the rest of his course mates.

Shielding his eyes from the evening sun he made his way to the car park, grabbing a bottle of water from the cafeteria as it was closing up. Ryousuke sighed softly as he tightened his grip on his laptop case. The evening after classes was always his favourite time of the day. It seemed like it was the only moment of actual peace he had in his life now. The cool breeze, soft chirping of the birds and the gentle fragrance of the herbs lining the path helped to calm his mind. He would have to go home and revise his lessons for the day to lock it in his memory, but for now he let his mind quiet down and just enjoy the peace of his surroundings.

Reaching the FC, Ryousuke set his backpack and laptop in the backseat and got into the driver's seat. A minute later he pulled the Mazda out of the car park and drove home, mentally planning the rest of his day.

* * *

"Aniki, you ready to go?" Keisuke asked, stepping into his brother's room. Ryousuke, with just a towel wrapped around his waist, was selecting some clothes from his wardrobe.

"Ah. I was just getting ready." Ryousuke closed the closet and walked over to the bed, starting to get dressed.

Keisuke walked out onto the balcony to give his brother some privacy. He reached into pocket and pulled out his pack of Mild Seven. Shielding his lighter from the wind, he lit his cigarette and spent the next few minutes smoking in silence. Hearing Ryousuke come out onto the balcony as well, he offered him a cigarette, leaning in close so that Ryousuke could light his cigarette with Keisuke's. Ryousuke nodded his thanks and turned towards the night sky.

"Na, Aniki. Are we going up to Akagi after the dinner?"

"Yes. I got Fumihiro to call up the rest of the team. They'll meet us there at 11."

Keisuke and Ryousuke were to meet their parents in the city later for dinner; an event that happened with less regularity when Ryousuke started racing and even more so when the Akagi Redsuns was formed; Not that either of them were looking forward to it. While Keisuke could still talk casually to his parents about his day and other mundane topics, Ryousuke's only contribution to the conversation would be when his parents asked him about how his classes and grades were. After that the silence would become uncomfortable and it would be up to Keisuke to drone on, just to bring some life back into the occasion.

He sighed, looking at his brother from the corner of his eye. He knew that Ryousuke was a private person by nature and wasn't the sort to talk about his day, but still it worried Keisuke that his brother never wanted to talk about anything other than work or racing. It was as if Ryousuke didn't bother about anything else in life or that he didn't trust Keisuke with his feelings.

The thought saddened him. He had come to Ryousuke whenever he had a problem or if he wanted to talk things out. Especially during his high school years when he'd been in a gang and wanted out. His brother had been there for him physically, bearing the brunt as well for Keisuke's desertion.

"Something wrong?" Ryousuke asked, looking at Keisuke. "Such a sad expression doesn't belong on your face Keisuke."

"Iie, nothing's wrong. Just remembering some stuff from the past."

"Ah." The conversation lapsed back into silence for a while before Ryousuke asked, "How are things with you and Kyouko?"

"Good. We're meeting up tomorrow for dinner. A meal at the diner for dinner and a stroll in the park for desert." Keisuke replied with a smirk.

Ryousuke smiled in return, shaking his head at Keisuke's enthusiasm.

"What 'bout you Aniki? Any late night meeting with a girl from school?" Keisuke asked with a grin.

"Not unless you consider studying 'Epidemiology' by Ms. Janet Wilks as romantic." Ryousuke offered with a straight face.

Keisuke shook his head this time. "Na Aniki. Have you _ever _gone out with a girl? I can't remember you going out with someone even in high school." Keisuke asked.

"No, never. I haven't met anyone I've been interested in getting to know." Ryousuke replied seriously.

Keisuke looked over at Ryousuke for a few moments before replying.

"Virgin."

"……. Urusai."

Keisuke snickered as Ryousuke walked out of the balcony.

* * *

The yellow Mazda pulled into the parking lot next to Hachi-Roku and the rest of the Project D vehicles. Dinner had been unremarkable and the brothers left for Akagi as soon as it was over. There weren't any challenges for the rest of the week and so Keisuke and Takumi just spent the night polishing up the skills they learnt on their last challenge while Fumihiro and Ryousuke went over the cars' data. After three hours the team called it a night. As the rest of the team drove off, Ryousuke and Keisuke headed to the FD. Reaching the car, Ryousuke reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet before sitting down. Keisuke looked over at his brother, watching him search through all his pockets.

"Lose something?"

"My wallet I think," Ryousuke said with a frown. "I must have left it in the restaurant."

"They probably kept it for you to pick up tomorrow."

"I'll need my student card for school though. Let's pass by the restaurant on the way back."

Keisuke nodded and the brothers got into the car and drove towards the city.

* * *

"I see a light on Aniki. Want me to follow you inside?" Keisuke asked as he pulled up next to the restaurant.

"Iie, I'll just be a minute." Ryousuke said as he got out of the car and headed towards the building. He looked through the window and saw someone sweeping the floor. Ryousuke knocked on the door to get his attention and the waiter rushed forward to open the door.

"I'm sorry sir, but the restaurant is closed. If you'd like to make a rese-"

"Sorry, but I was here earlier and I think I may have left my wallet behind."

"Oh I see. Come in sir. Just let me check with the manager," the waiter replied, stepping aside to let Ryousuke in.

Ryousuke looked around the empty restaurant while waiting for the waiter or manager to return. The lights at the bar were the only ones on and the soft music from the speakers added to the peaceful atmosphere of the place. He quite liked the change from how it was earlier. The lights had been a bit too bright and the noise from the crowd had added to his discomfort.

"Here you go sir. I'm sorry you had to travel all the way back here again at this time." said a new voice, almost as deep as his own.

"Thank you for taking ca-" Ryousuke said as he turned around to address the new speaker and stopped as he finally looked at him.

Ryousuke was startled by the look of the other man's eyes. They were darker than his and had such an intensity in them that it took him a second to start speaking again.

"Umm, thank you for taking care of it for me." Ryousuke finished taking the wallet from the man and shaking his hand.

"No problem at all. Glad I could help. My name is Mishima Eiji," he replied shaking Ryousuke's hand.

"Takahashi Ryousuke."

"Takahashi-san, I hope you will come back again soon." Eiji smiled, his thumb moving slightly over Ryousuke's hand.

Ryousuke nodded, nervous over Eiji's gesture and walked out the door without another word.

He climbed into the passenger seat of the FD and motioned for Keisuke to drive.

"Missing anything from your wallet?" Keisuke asked as he drove off.

"I don't think so."

Keisuke turned towards his brother and saw him looking out of the window, his head turned slightly away from him.

"Aniki…Are you…blushing!" Keisuke asked, incredulous that something or _someone _could fluster his brother that much.

Ryousuke continued to look out the window not saying anything.

Keisuke started laughing at Ryousuke.

"Was it a waitress? Did she offer to _bend down_ and pick up your wallet for you?" Keisuke asked between laughs.

Ryousuke turned towards Keisuke and frowned, his cheeks still pink.

"Urusai Keisuke. Just keep your eyes on the road." Ryousuke said coldly. He didn't need his little brother laughing at him right now.

"Hai hai."

Keisuke pressed down on the accelerator and sped home, still smiling to himself at his brother's behaviour.

'_If she flusters you this much, she has to be interesting. I hope you try and go after her Aniki.'_

* * *

Japanese Translation

Urusai Shut up

Hai hai ya ya

Review


	2. Office Relations

Ryousuke went straight to his room after getting out of the FD, not wanting Keisuke to pry into what had happened in the restaurant. He locked the bedroom door behind him and started changing into a pair of sweat-pants to wear to bed. He lay down on the bed and adjusted his pillow, trying to get comfortable.

He lay quietly for a few moments before looking at his hand. He could still feel the sensation; A phantom caress on his skin. He felt his face heating up for the second time that night.

He didn't know how to feel about someone making such a move against him; and a man nonetheless.

He should have been angry. If any other man had tried that with him…

He could feel the anger building inside of him, just imagining someone like Kyouichi caressing his hand. The thought of the bigger man trying to dominate him into playing the shy, blushing uke pissed him off. He clenched his fists in anger, his nails digging into his palms.

Ryousuke turned over in his bed and sighed, trying to clear his thoughts.

_This isn't about_ Kyouichi_, of all people. _

He tried to picture Eiji in his mind.

No, he didn't feel any anger towards the man. He seemed to be an honest enough person. Ryousuke hadn't detected any falsehood behind Eiji's polite manner or any wish to intimidate him. The caress was nothing more than an invitation. Ryousuke smiled.

_Omoshiroiyo omaewa._

After all those bubble-headed fangirls sending him love letters, marriage proposals and various articles of their clothing, that soft touch on his hand was what interested him the most.

All Ryousuke had to do now was figure out a way to meet the man again without appearing to be _too _interested.

* * *

Ryousuke poured himself a cup of coffee and brought it to the dining room. His parents were already seated with their own cups of coffee. No one in the family could stand to have more than that in the morning.

Sitting opposite his parents, Ryousuke began reading whatever section was left of the newspaper; his parents having already taken the other sections.

The next few minutes were spent drinking and exchanging sections of the newspaper. It was their morning ritual and the only time where he and his parents weren't uncomfortable with each other. Later they would go their separate ways; his parents to the hospital and himself to school.

"Ryousuke, what are you going to buy for Keisuke?" his mother asked.

Keisuke's birthday was next Wednesday and Ryousuke had planned to get him a PC. Up till now Keisuke had been using Ryousuke's PC to surf the internet, thus disrupting Ryousuke's study time. Getting Keisuke a PC would stop his brother from disturbing him while studying as well as stop all those hentai website pop-ups that seemed to occur whenever Keisuke had the PC to himself the night before.

But then this was Keisuke, and the only way to Keisuke's heart would be through his FD. Perhaps a new CD player and speakers would do. He didn't want to modify the FD without asking his brother's permission first and the sound system in the car was a safe option to change. He'd have to drive the FD to the workshop one of these days while Keisuke was still asleep.

"I might get a new CD player for his car," Ryousuke replied. "And you?"

"We'll be having a party here as usual. Besides that, we haven't got any ideas."

"The dinner will be enough. Keisuke doesn't have anything he wants to buy and the FD doesn't need any modifications appearance-wise."

"Alright, just the party then. We'll have to decide on a cuisine, find a caterer and send out the invitations. Would you ask Keisuke to pass me the list of people he's inviting? I'll need it when ordering the food."

"Aah."

His parents had birthday parties for him and Keisuke for as long as he could remember. It was the same every year, with them entertaining their relatives, waiting on them and preventing their younger cousins from destroying the house or, worse yet, their cars.

Ryousuke wasn't looking forward to it and he was sure Keisuke would try and make his parents change their minds once he heard about it; not that it would work. But still, there had to be a party to appease their parents.

_Something different would be nice. A change of venue perhaps…_

Ryousuke cocked his head slightly, thinking about that last idea.

_Venue… A restaurant then. _

"We could have the party at a restaurant this year," Ryousuke suggested.

His mother smiled at the idea. "It would be a nice change."

His father looked up from the newspaper. "Restaurants need to be booked far in advance Ryousuke, and especially so for the bigger ones. They're always in demand for birthdays and weddings."

"Keisuke's birthday falls on Wednesday, not on a weekend. It would give the restaurant time to clear up for the weekend booking," Ryousuke replied. "And if we go for a bigger venue, we can invite our relatives and Keisuke can call all his friends."

His father didn't seem too convinced about using another venue so Ryousuke added, "Keisuke would enjoy it more. It is his birthday after all."

His parents looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement.

"So, since you've come up with this much, do you have an idea for the restaurant?" his father asked.

"Aah. The place we went yesterday." Ryousuke answered, willing himself not to react in any way.

"Yesterday?" his father asked, frowning in confusion. "What's so special about it? The desert was tasty but the main dishes were just fair."

"Keisuke liked it," Ryousuke lied. His brother hadn't made any comment about the food last night, though he did order another helping of their 'Sliced Turkey with Onion Gravy'. That could be taken as a compliment he supposed.

"Fine fine. Go make the reservation as soon as possible. Just add three more people when you're asking for your brother's guest list. We'll need to invite Tsugumi and her parents as well."

Ryousuke nodded and got back to his coffee. His classes would end in the evening and he would need to go over to the workshop to order the CD player and speakers.

_I'll just call up the restaurant during the lunch break and see if the place is available. After that I'll need to get the guest list from Keisuke and go over to the restaurant to pick out the dishes and settle the payment._

He felt his pulse quicken at the thought of going back there. For a reservation this size he'd obviously have to plan it directly with the manager. And it would probably take a few days to coordinate everything; planning the seating arrangements, deciding on the menu, tasting the dishes and selecting the music. All in all, Ryousuke would have to come into contact with Eiji fairly often till Keisuke's birthday was over.

* * *

The dimly lit hallway brightened as door after door opened and the students exited the classrooms, talking to one another as some of them moved on to their next class and the others hurried towards the elevators. Ryousuke pushed his way through with the rest, trying to get in. He wedged himself between the elevator controls and another student, pressing the 'Door Open' button to let others enter. Finally the 'Weight Overload' went off, signaling to the last student who entered that he would have to take the stairs. The rest of the elevator's occupants jeered him till he left and Ryousuke pressed the 'Door Close' button, waiting to reach the cafeteria on the first floor. With a final lurch, the doors opened and the crowd moved as one towards the cafeteria.

After five minutes, Ryousuke and his friends got a table to themselves. His friends went off to order their food, leaving him to take care of the bags.

Ryousuke pulled out his mobile phone and called the operator, asking for the number to 'The Summit' restaurant". He dialed the number, waiting for someone to pickup.

"The Summit, Mishima speaking, how may I help you?" asked a bored voice.

Ryousuke immediately recognised the person on the line and willed his voice to stay steady.

"Konbanwa Mishima-san. Would it possible to reserve the restaurant for this Wednesday?"

"Wednesday? We don't have any reservations for that day, but even so it will be quite a rush to get everything ready in a week."

"I understand. But I only got to know of this place yesterday."

The last thing Ryousuke wanted right now was to get off on the wrong foot because of a late reservation. The silence in the conversation lasted for a moment.

"Can I have your name sir?"

Ryousuke paused slightly, getting nervous over his question.

"Takahashi Ryousuke."

"Aah, Takahashi-san... I believe we can accommodate your request for this Wednesday. Perhaps you'd like to come over this evening to discuss the arrangements?"

Ryousuke ducked his head so that his friends wouldn't see the smile he felt coming on.

"Aah, I'll be there around ten. Is that alright?"

"Perfect."

Ryousuke ended the call and dialed Keisuke's number, intending on getting the guest list as soon as possible.

* * *

It was a little after ten when Ryousuke pulled into the parking lot of 'The Summit'. He turned off the engine and the headlights and looked around. There were three other cars parked throughout the dimly lit carpark. He locked the FC and walked towards the entrance. After entering, he told his name to the young waiter at the entrance and was led to a room at the end of the restaurant, away from the main dining hall. After thanking the young man, Ryousuke knocked on the door. Moments later the door opened to reveal a smiling Eiji.

"Takahashi-san, please come in," Eiji said, stepping aside to let Ryousuke enter.

Ryousuke nodded his thanks and entered, taking a seat opposite the desk, trembling slightly in anxiety. He noted that the office lights had been dimmed just as the restaurant had been yesterday and the sounds of Kenny G. filling the room. The desk lamp cast that side of the room in an accented glow. Eiji closed the door and sat down at the desk, smoothing the black tie over his grey shirt. He reached into one of the desk's drawers and pulled out a large appointment book.

"So you want to book the restaurant for next Wednesday… for your brother. Is that right?" he asked, flipping through the pages to find the right date.

"Aah, it's for Keisuke's birthday," Ryousuke replied absent-mindedly, studying the other man's face. His forehead was creased in a frown, trying to find the right date. His hair was shorter than Ryousuke's, with his fringe brushing against his eyebrows. Ryousuke looked at the man's eyes. That intense look was still there, but not directed at him at the moment. His eyes seemed darker than normal in the dim lighting, so that he couldn't even make out his pupils. The long dark lashes fluttered as the man skimmed the page he was currently at.

Eiji looked up suddenly after finding the date and caught Ryousuke's eyes looking into his. The side of his mouth lifted as he saw Ryousuke's half-lidded look and realised how intently the man had been studying him. Coming back to himself, Ryousuke broke eye contact. He pulled out a piece of paper from his shirt's pocket and handed it to Eiji.

"This is the guest list and the seating arrangement we would like," Ryousuke said.

"Aah, I'll take it into account," Eiji said as he reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a folder. He walked over to the other side of the desk and sat down on the edge, two feet away from Ryousuke. The close proximity only served to heighten both men's senses, each taking in the other's features. Their pale skin was painted bronze in this light.

"This is a complete list of all the dishes available here. Feel free to bring it home and discuss it with your family. If you place the order with one of my people over the phone tomorrow, we can have the tasting on Friday perhaps?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows at Ryousuke.

Ryousuke felt his skin heat up at the invitation and got up from his chair, emboldened by the offer. He reached out and took the folder from Eiji's hand and placed it on the desk. Stepping close to the other man he whispered in his ear, his breath tickling the other's neck.

"Friday then," he said softly. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Eiji turned his head towards Ryousuke and looked into his eyes, mouth parted and eyes half-lidded. Ryousuke moved forwards and pressed his lips against Eiji's, softness against softness. He parted his lips and licked the center of the other man's lips before kissing it again. Eiji lifted his hands to Ryousuke's waist and pulled him closer, pressing their mouths harder against each other.

Muffled sucking echoed throughout the room as the two traded wet open-mouthed kisses, tongues desperately tasting each other. Eiji moved off the desk and ground his hips against Ryousuke's, making both men moan into each other's mouth. Ryousuke tangled his hands in Eiji's hair, pressing his whole body against the other man. Eiji cupped Ryousuke's head, tipping it back. He attacked Ryousuke's mouth aggressively, his tongue probing deep into the other's mouth. Ryousuke moved his hands to Eiji's shoulders and pushed away from him.

His lips felt swollen as he looked back at Eiji. Eiji's lips were wet and swollen as well. Both men were panting, their hands still on each other. Ryousuke licked his lips and moved away from the other man as he straightened his clothing, adjusting himself to hide the bulge in his pants.

He took a deep breath and looked at Eiji again.

"Friday then. Ja."

Ryousuke closed the door behind him, leaving Eiji in the middle of the room grinning to himself.

_See you Friday, Ryousuke-kun._

* * *

**Japanese Translation**

Urusai Shut Up

Uke The submissive/bottom in the relationship

Omoshiroiyo omaewa You're interesting

Hentai pervert/perverted

Ja Bye

* * *

**Author's Notes**

I hope this didn't seem like a PWP because I really do have a story to tell. If anyone has any recommendations to improve it please let me know.

CelicaChick: Thanks for your review. I wouldn't have continued the fic without it. I've added the Japanese translation to the end of the fic. Ja!

anImElVr: I've labeled the fic accordingly now. Thanks for the review.

Gerarde: Tsk tsk… lust, lust, lust… U already know when it's going to happen. Thanks for the review!

* * *

**Review please.**


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